Cold November 2014

Sundogs at the U of M St. Paul Campus: November 17, 2014Courtesy: MNDNR Minnesota State Climatology Office

November 2014 wound up being in a three-way tie for the ninth coldest November on record for the Twin Cities, and the last time there was a colder November was in 1991.

November 2014 felt more like a December than a November. The average temperature for November, 2014 wound up being 25.4 degrees, or 8.3 degrees below normal. The coldest day of the month was November 27, Thanksgiving. The minimum temperature was -4 degrees, the coldest temperature in a November since -4 on November 24, 1997 and had the coldest high temperature for a Thanksgiving since a high of seven degrees in 1930. Also impressive were the number of days of 32 degrees or colder. 2014 had 17 days, one short of the record 18 days that was set in 1880. Other Novembers that also had 17 days of 32 degrees or colder highs were 1996, 1991 and 1951.

The cold was consistent across Minnesota. Duluth wound up with its 11th coldest November on record and International Falls saw a tie for the 8th coldest November. St. Cloud had its ninth coldest November on record. Rochester was a bit more balmy and only had the 30th coldest November on record.

There have been past Decembers warmer than November 2014 in the Twin Cities. In fact, there's been 22 Decembers that were warmer than 25.4 degrees, the last time being in 2011. There's also been five Januaries warmer than this November in the past, including the warmest January on record in 2006.

November, 2014 wound up with 9.4 inches of snow in the Twin Cities, which is just one tenth of an inch above the 1981-2010 normal of 9.3 inches. November was snowier elsewhere, especially where the heaviest of the November 10 snowstorm fell. St. Cloud wound up with its eighth snowiest November on record.